Another Shade of Red
by PaGi
Summary: *CHAPTER 3 IS UP* Ginny Weasley wants to be different from the rest of her family, and she's willing to take drastic measures to achieve that goal. So she... well, read the fic!! :) I haven't typed it all up yet, but hopefully I'll have the rest
1. The Drastic Change

Another Shade of Red: The Drastic Change

Disclaimer: Although I love Jo Rowling's books and the world she created, I didn't create any of the characters or things in the Harry Potter books. Most of the ideas are my own, but everything else belongs to Mrs. Rowling. 

  
A/N: Hey! This is my first fanfic at fanfiction.net, so I'd appreciate it if you'd r & r. I didn't have time to put up the rest that I have done, but I have at least a few more chapters. I'd appreciate some feedback! Thanks a bunch, -- PaGi --   


Ginny Weasley couldn't believe what she was about to do. She had thought it over in her head a million times, sure, but it was a whole other thing to actually go through with it. And what about her parents? She'd never hear the end of it. Worst of all, she had no idea what her six brothers would think. But Ginny wouldn't and couldn't change her mind now. Is she was going to be a more independent person this was the only way.

She checked one more time to make sure the door was locked- with nine people living in the same house one never knew if someone was going to run in on them when they were doing something private. Ginny remembered when she accidentally did that to Percy, and she laughed at the thought. But what she was doing wasn't like that at all, it was different and much more important. Then she heard footsteps coming up to the door.

"Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley asked, "are you almost done in there?"

"Yes, mum," Ginny lied, another thing she rarely did. "Just give me a few minutes, okay? Five minutes, that's all."

"That's fine, but we're eating soon." Ginny heard her mother descend down the stairs.

Ginny knew she had to do it now. If she ever wanted to be thought of as anything besides the little Weasley girl, she had to. _Okay,_ she decided, _I'll do it._

Ginny took the small blue bottle and poured some of the weightless liquid into her hands. The liquid was a pearly white color, and she wondered if (and hoped that) it would work correctly. What if it didn't work right and instead made her ears fall off? She hesitated for a moment, but then she decided it was a chance she was willing to take. Ginny smothered her bright red hair in the iridescent goo and closed her eyes. The potion was already beginning to work; she could feel the roots of her hair suddenly get heavier. But then it felt like all her hair had been pulled out! She had never felt such excruciating pain on her head before, and she opened her mouth to scream. However, she didn't scream because she realized that she couldn't scream anymore if she was going to be the all-new Ginny. And besides, screaming would probably mess up her hair.

Ginny had realized that she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she never again would be. She stood up to look in the mirror and she gasped. No longer did she look like Ginny Weasley, at least not the Ginny she had been before. She felt her soft new strawberry-blonde hair, and decided that she looked five years older than she had with her "Weasley" hair. Oh, she couldn't wait to see the reactions of everyone at Hogwarts!

She decided not to go downstairs until supper because she wanted to unveil her new look to her whole family at the same time. Unfortunately, things often didn't go as planned for 14-year-old Ginny Weasley. In fact, if she got what she wanted all of the time she'd be the most popular girl in school, a chaser on the Quidditch team, and Harry Potter's girlfriend. And if not his girlfriend, she at least hoped to be his crush.

As Ginny planned her "grand entrance" (or at least that was what she called it), she looked around her room. She had a plush blue bed covered in stuffed animals and on the walls were several posters of the Weird Sisters, Ginny's favorite band. She also had countless pieces of parchment on which she had scribbled "I YHP" or "I luv Harry 4 ever," or something else to that extent. Ginny wondered if Harry Potter, who was probably the most popular (and famous) boy in school, would ever think of her as any more than his best friend Ron's little sister. But maybe he would realize that she wasn't any longer Tom Riddle's 11-year-old puppet on strings. She didn't need Harry to save her from some perilous chambers or enchanted (and evil) diaries. She knew she could find her way and crawl out of her little cave of codependence.

As she was thinking all of this through in her head, the door to the room burst open.

"'Ey, Gin, do you have any chocolate frogs so we can- whoa!" Fred and George stopped dead in their tracks.

"What did you do to yourself?" Fred laughed.

"May I ask what is so funny?" Ginny said simply.

"You look like a gigantic strawberry!" George guffawed. "I guess it's better than the way-too-ripe cherry you were before"

"Funny, very funny," Ginny replied sarcastically.

"Mum's going to kill you!" George grinned.

"And bury your bones- that is, if there are any left when she's done," Fred added.

"Wait until Percy sees! Oh, this should be good. I can see a lecture coming on! I wish I had a camera for that."

"Does it really look that bad?" Ginny asked her two brothers worriedly. "I'm pretty sure I followed the directions correctly-"

"Nah, it's fine," Fred chuckled, "you just, well, you don't really look much like Ginny anymore."

"Good," she replied shortly. "I'll meet you guys downstairs at dinner." The twins looked befuddled as they stood in Ginny's doorway and watched her exit the room.

__

That didn't go so horribly, Ginny thought as she strolled down the stairs._ The worst part'll be dad and mum... Oh, I wonder what Bill and Charlie will say! Percy and Ron will probably get creeped out, though. What else is new?_

Ginny walked with her head held high downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Thank you for finally joining us Gi-" Mr. Weasley began as he looked up from his plate. "What in the name of Merlin?!?"

"Don't tell me it's a new one of Fred and George's Weasley Wizard Wheezes- erm, not that they're still making those, mum!" Ron laughed nervously.

"Actually, I um, I did this on my own," Ginny blushed. She looked different when she blushed now; she didn't turn into a tomato anymore. "I bought _Madam Mangy's Miraculous Moisture_, and um, I think it turned out rather nicely, actually."

"Well, if you like it, so do I," Charlie smiled. Mrs. Weasley nudged him in the arm. "What?" he groaned.

"Yeah, Gin, strawberry blonde is totally in right now," Bill agreed. Ginny was pleased with his response. After all, he was the one with the pierced ear.

"Well, it's too late to do anything now," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I just can't see why you would want to get rid of your lovely red hair."

"It'll grow out, mum," Ginny replied. "Besides, I can always buy another Moisture in my natural color it I decide I really despise it."

Ron just gaped at his sister's new look. It seemed to change all of her features, except for her eyes which remained the same beautiful blue tone. "I have to tell Harry about this," Ron shook his head. "Won't _he_ be in for a surprise." Ginny smiled secretly. This, of course, was exactly what she had been hoping for.


	2. Meeting at the Express

Another Shade of Red: Meeting at the Express

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and I don't' own any of her characters, even though I wish I had her amazing mind. The ideas put into this story are my own though, so please don't copy!

A/N: Okay, this is the second part to the story. I don't know how long this story will end up being, though. Maybe ten chapters? Well, please r & r the new chapter I added. Merci! 

The new school year drew closer and closer, and there were only three days left until school began. Harry had come to visit a few days before, but since Ginny didn't want anyone to see her until school started she stayed up in her room unless she had a good reason for wearing a hat. She was happy when the day came to leave for the Hogwarts Express on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The Weasleys and Harry met Hermione Granger at the train station.

"Hermione!" Ginny ran up to her friend to tell her the news. "I _have_ to tell you something."

"Hello Ginny!" Hermione smiled. "What is it?" Her attention was soon distracted as soon as she spotter Harry and Ron. "Oh my goodness Harry! How is everything? Were the Dursleys horrible to you? Ron, I hope your family's been taking good care of him, and-"

"Apparently you had a nice holiday, Hermione?" Harry asked his friend.

"Excellent, except for the fact that I've been worried sick about the three of you all summer," she sighed. "How was Lupin's, Harry? I haven't talked to you since then. How long were you there?"

"Two weeks," Harry replied. "Sirius was there, too, of course, he's been there for a good deal of the summer to keep Lupin company. We had a great time- he has a nice little cabin out in the countryside. He can't live in town because of his y'know animal 'problem.'"

Remus Lupin, a former Hogwarts professor, was a werewolf, but all the same he was friendly, harmless, and loyal 96% of the time.

"He had to transform last week, but Sirius kept him company. Lupin has a basement that was made into an extra bedroom so I wouldn't be around the night of the full moon. To tell you the truth, it was sort of creepy down in that basement when I could hear a wolf howling every once in a while upstairs. If that's him in a calm wolf form, I don't want to imagine what he was like before my dad and Sirius helped him." Ron and Hermione shuddered and nodded. "But you'll never believe who showed up the next day."

"Who?" Ron asked eagerly. "Who, who, who!?!"

"It was-" Harry lowered his voice. "-Snape. He must have come by to give Lupin the potion, and was late, but I had just come up from the basement when he was about to leave. And I can't imagine _why_ he'd be late, either."

"Could it have anything to do with the task Dumbledore sent him on?" Hermione asked, lowering her voice even more so that only they could hear. "It sounds very peculiar to me."

"What task?" Ginny asked surprisedly. "What are you talking about?" Hermione, Harry, and Ron gave each other nervous glances.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, Gin," Ron spoke in his older-brother tone which Ginny hated. Then he turned to his two friends, ignoring his sister. "It sounds strange to me, too. I think his mission must have something to do with the Death Eaters. It makes the most sense." Hermione nodded vigorously and Harry tried to change the subject, because Ginny was looking quite annoyed. It wasn't unusual that the three fifth years left her out of their discussions. Sure, her parents told her Sirius Black was actually innocent, but what task were they talking about? It sounded to her like a lot of nonsense.

The four friends and the Weasleys waited five minutes for the train, then ten, then thirty, and it still hadn't arrived.

"What in the world could be the problem?" Mrs. Weasley declared. "The Hogwarts Express has never been late before. Ginny nodded in agreement. In all of the years she had left on the train or gone with her mother to see her brothers off to school the train had never been even a minute tardy.

"What is going on?" Neville Longbottom asked them as he and his grandmother walked over.

"Hullo, Neville," Harry said, trying to sound cheerful. "We have no idea, actually. I was thinking maybe you would, but apparently not."

"No, I don't, sorry," Neville said sadly. "But hey, guess what!"

"What, said Ron blandly. Ginny knew that Ron didn't exactly consider Neville a "friend" of his.

"Grandmother bought me an owl!" he exclaimed. "It's a tawny, they're beautiful birds. Now grandmother doesn't have to borrow and owl every time I write to her! It's going to make things a lot easier. And Hermes won't get lost like Trevor always did. He'll fly right back."

"Wow, Neville," Hermione smiled, "that's wonderful!" She nudged Ron in the arm.

"Ow!" he yelped. "Sure, yeah, congratulations."

"I know!" he smiled. "Well, see you soon!"

"Bye Neville," Harry waved as the short, mouse-like boy walked away with his grandmother.

"Ron!" Hermione said angrily, "how could you be so rude as to treat Neville so inconsiderately?"

"He's just Neville," Ron replied, "I mean, we always give him a hard time."

"_Just Neville_?" Hermione said, getting madder. "He was being polite and friendly, and you should have done the same to him."

"You mean, talk everyone's heads off about some owl named _Hermes_?"

"Just shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped and Ron yelled back at her. Harry rolled his eyes and Ginny laughed.

"I knew the peace wouldn't last long," she sighed.

"When does it ever?" Harry replied.

"You have _NO_ idea what you're talking about, Ronald Weasley!"

"_Me_? You're the one who"

But their arguing ended with a halt, because at that moment, something very unexpected occurred.

A/C: Sorry I didn't write more to this chapter, but it's coming soon, I promise! I just didn't have time to write it all down. I was going to make chapter 2 and 3 one chapter, but that will have to wait. Please post reviews so I know what you think! J 


	3. An Unexpected Occurrence

Another Shade of Red: An Unexpected Occurrence

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, blah blah blah, you get here I'm going. The disclaimer is in the first to chapters, read it there if you find you need to.

A/N: Ah yes, another chapter. I have the story down on paper, but it's just a matter of finding the time to type it up. Summer's keeping me busy, not to mention my original story, which is already 34 pages done with lots more left. I appreciate all my reviews, thanks you guys!! J I'd like to thank each of you personally after you all read this chapter. ;)

"Excuse me, everyone," a small man wearing a sky blue pinstripe suit and a bowler hat to match it announced. "I'm Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic." Whispers arose from the crowd. "Please calm down, nothing too serious has occurred. Although I am very sorry to report that that Hogwarts Express- has broken down. There has been no permanent damage, but it will take a while for the Department of Magical Mechanics to get the Express up and running again. I hope you all will have other means of arriving at the school by tonight for the feast. Once again, I apologize on behalf of the Ministry, and if you have any questions on how to reach your destination please contact us so we can get everyone there on time. Thank you very much." Fudge immediately disapparated, leaving not even a trace that he was ever there, except for the bustling crowd at Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Most of the witches and wizards complained about the "poor misfortune" or "sloppiness of the Ministry" and then left immediately. Ginny was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to chat with her friends in different compartments or buy a pile of chocolate frogs and pumpkin pastys with the money she had saved over the summer, abandoning the chicken sandwich her mother had made for her that morning.

"How peculiar," Mrs. Weasley stated, feeling quite confused. "How could the ministry let the train break down? It must have been in disrepair for quite a while. After all, it only runs twice a year." She shook her head. "Children, wait here while I stop at home quickly to talk to your father. Maybe he can arrange a portkey for all of you while we drive home." 

That summer Mr. Weasley had been given a French muggle Citroen that had been bewitched by a wizard that escaped from St. Mungo's Wizarding Hospital a month before. It had been a complicated case for the Ministry, but Mr. Weasley did a good job in the end with sorting things out. He made sure that the car couldn't fly in any way, shape, or form, or be flown by anyone under the age of eighteen. Fred and George had been trying to break that charm all summer, but so far they had succeeded in driving the car zero times and had been caught twenty-two times. The Weasley twins refused to give up easily, however, as usual. A lot of the time they were busy with their jobs at Gambol and Japes wizarding joke shop, which the Weasley parents thought was good work experience, but the two brothers thought of it as free joke supplies and good money.

"Don't hurry back, mum," Fred grinned. "Take your time. Your two youngest will be safe with us. Hermione and Harry, too."

"Well, I would expect so," she glared at them. "And if anyone has an extra head when I return I will know who gave it to them!"

"We will be fine Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, trying to comfort poor Mrs. Weasley, who looked quite stressed. "The Finnigans are over there, and so is Neville's grandmother. Not to mention the MacMillans, the Jordans, the Changs, the Spinnets, the-"

"I think that's _enough_, Hermione," nudging her in the ribs quite hard. "My mum won't worry now, and we want her to get things sorted out as quickly as possible, isn't that right, Harry?"

"What?" Harry asked, not really paying to attention to the conversation at hand because Cho Chang walked by with her older brother who worked at Gringotts. Ron gave him a look, and he understood, at least he understood enough to agree with his best friend. "Oh, yeah, of course. We'll be fine Mrs. Weasley, don't worry about us. It will only be a few minutes." Ginny rolled her eyes. Obviously the famous Harry Potter only liked girls that were competitive and had nice eyes. _Typical_, she thought.

"Okay, then," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I think I can count on Hermione, Harry, and Ginny to keep things in order, can't I? I will be back _very_ soon." She gave Fred and George one last glance before apparating. Fred and George began to walk away.

"We're going to go talk to Angelina and Alicia," George called to them as the twins walked toward the two Gryffindor chasers. With Katie Bell and Oliver Wood out of school, there were two open places on the Quidditch team, and the position of captain was available as well. Some thought Harry would be made captain, while others thought Angelina Johnson would get the position. But it was up to Madam Hooch to decide at that point.

As soon as the twins were out of earshot, Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved away from the crowd to talk. Ginny suspiciously followed.

"Isn't that something?" Harry wondered. "What Fudge said, I mean."

"You don't actually believe that rubbish Fudge was saying, do you?" Ron shook his head. "I thought you knew he was full of baloney."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing that would interest you, Ginny," Ron replied. "Nevermind. You wouldn't care. Don't you have some friends around that you can go talk to until mum gets back?" That last remark made Ginny very annoyed. She was only a year younger than her brother, and she was sick of having treat her like a little girl. In fact, she had just about had it at that point.

"Of course it would interest me, why wouldn't it?" Ginny asked angrily. "If you haven't noticed, I'm only a year younger than the lot of you. Can't you even treat me like an equal, Ron, instead of your naïve little sister?" When she stepped forwards to give her brother a talking to, her hat fell off, revealing her newq hair. Hermione and Harry's jaws dropped.

"I told you, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. "But _you_ didn't think she would really do it!" Harry and Hermione just gaped at Ginny's hair, which was beginning to grow a great deal and was almost shoulder-length.

"Wow, Ginny, it looks beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed as she felt Ginny's sleek, new hair. "What did you use on it?" Ginny liked the attention, but she was still trying to tell off her brother, and she wasn't ready to stop right then.

"Why don't you just tell me what you three were talking about," she said sternly. The trio looked at each other.

"Fine," Ron sighed. "But you can't tell anyone. Not mum or dad, and definitely not Fred and George."

"I promise on Hogwarts that I won't tell unless put under a powerful charm which I have no control over," Ginny smiled jokingly. What in the world could be the secret that was so secret?

A/N: *sigh* Another chapter done!! Hahaha, another evil cliffie. How I love those!! Sorry, it's a short chapter, but I'm a busy girl. Hopefully I'll have the next one up soon. But until then, I'd like to thank everyone who left me a review:

JellybeanOasis: Thanks for giving me my first review!! J I appreciate it a lot.

Oowth: Thanks for such a nice review. And who knows if Harry will think differently of Ginny? Maybe a few other people will, too!!

Bucky: I've been updating, but not too regularly. Check back soon!!

Evil*Fairy: I love strawberry blonde hair, but as to whether it will suit Ginny, well, we'll see. Sorry, but Ginny's eyes are going to stay the same color. No color-changing charms for her!! This story is about a lot more than Ginny's new look, but that happens to be the thing that sort of pulls the story together. Think of it was sort of a book 5 story!!

Daphne Black: Thanks for the note. I'll change it when I get the chance!! Until then, let's hope people read the reviews, huh??

HarryandGinny4eva: There will be more soon, you can count on it!!

Mage of Fire: Thanks, but is "interesting" good or bad?? Lol.

Sweetihunni: Thanks a lot!! I'll be sure to R&R yours when I get a chance.

Satans Little Princess: Muahahahaha don't you LOVE cliffies?? They're evil, but exciting. Thanks for the nice review!!

Lioness Silence: Thanks so much!! And thanks for the tip, too. I know where my story is going, and I'm not one to take ideas from other people. I figure they should take credit for their own ideas.

WeasleyGranger: Thanks for coming back to read the second chapter!! I hope you enjoyed chapter 3 just as much.

Jedi Rowena Gryffindor: Hmmm, has Ginny taken off her hat?? Don't think so!! Not until chapter three, and then it sort of fell off, hehe. Atb the right moment, nevertheless!!

Daphne Black: Wow, thanks for reviewing twice. That's so nice of you!! I'll be sure to check out some of your work, too.

LilyAyl: Although I read a good deal of fanfiction when I have the chance, I haven't come across one like this yet. And as I said before, it's just the idea that pulls the story together. It will get a lot darker, believe me. I basically got the idea from from well, actually I don't exactly know. I just sort of get these ideas that pop into my head. I get a lot of those, and I have plenty more stories, but they're all on paper, not typed up. Thanks again!!

Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews. That was so nice of you!! I remember when I got my first five reviews I has jumping up and down, hehe. I hope to be a writer some day, if not a marine biologist, and it feels good to get positive feedback. Thanks a million!! -- PaGi


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